Insanity Flashcards
Acts that sets out orders judges can give
Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Act
Domestic, Violence, Crime and Victims Act
Orders a judge can give when special verdict is rendered
Hospital Order
Supervison Order
Absolute Dischafrge
R v Horseferry Rd Magistrates Court ex parte K
Defence available to both Indictable and Summary Offences
DPP v H
Defence unavailable to Strict Liabilty offences
M’Naughten Rules
Defect of Reason
Disease of Mind
D doesnt know either:
Nature or Quality of his Act
Or
The Act was legally wrong
R v Clarke 1972
Absentmindedness does not reach the level of insantity
R v Kemp 1957
Charged under OAPA for assualting his wife
Claimed due to arteriosclerosis.
Court held insantity applied to phsyical conditions as well
Defence VALID
R v Sullivan
During eplietic seizure, D kicked v in head
Charged OAPA
Epilepsy is internal illness
Insantiy not Automatism
R v Hennessy
Arrested driving stolen car
Determined to be suffering from HYPERglacemic episode as a result of not taking his insulin for a week
Court held insanity is the defence
as Internal
R v Quick
D failed to eat after taking his insulin as required
Court held this was external factor and thus automatism
R v Burgess
Wouding
Was sleepwalking
Court adopted Canadian SC Rabey v The Queen
Sleepwalking is internal - Insanity
R v Oye
D arrested for affray.
At station police noticed acting strange - Drinking from toilet
Turned violent and assualted police officers
Suffering pyschotic break and thought police were agents of evil spirits
Not Guilty
R v Windle 1952
Upon arrest said “Suppose theyll hang me for this” clearly knew of the illegailty of his actions
Evaluation - M’Naughten Rules
Out of date - written in 1843
Mackay & Reuber Report 2007:
- Law lags behind psychiatric understanding of mental illness
- Label of insane is outdated
- Case law is incoherent
Evaluation - Social Stigma
Label of insane has large stigma
and during cases of Sleepwalking - Burgess and Diabetes - Hennessy doesnt apply
Budern of Proof
Placed on Defendant
- possible breach of A.6 ECHR
Overlap with diminished responsibility
Majority of those charged with murder plead DR and leads to determite sentence and Manslaughter convction
Wheres Insantiy leads to indefinite detention at Pyschiatric institution
Reform
Butler Commitee 1975 - Verdict of Not Guilty on evidence of mental disorder
Law Commission Paper 2013 - Rules should be D lacked the capacity to:
-Make Rational judgement
Understand wrongess
Control their body
